The second season of Airtel Super Singer Junior - Thamizhagathin Chellakuralukkana Thedal (the search for the sweet voice of Tamil Nadu) premiered on 22 June 2009.
A number of eminent playback singers and music directors appeared during the season as guest judges, including P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela, M. S. Viswanathan, S. Janaki, Sadhana Sargam, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Suchithra, Harish Raghavendra, Unni Menon, Madhu Balakrishnan, Sowmya, Pop Shalini, and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy.
Open auditions for the season commenced in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, according to the then-official website of the show.
Typically each round had four episodes telecast Monday to Thursday, with a contestant eliminated at the end of the last show that week.
The top 25 contestants were required to provide duet or trio performances in celebration of the Hindu festival Navarathri.
The 26–29 October round required the 23 remaining contestants to perform songs which fit the theme of rain.
The 9–12 November round required the 21 remaining contestants to perform Raajaavin Ramyamaana Raagangal (English: Ilaiyaraaja's pleasant melody songs) from movies released in the 1970s and 1980s.
The 23–25 November episodes featured a Mottukalin Mettukal[clarification needed] round for the remaining 20 contestants.
The 30 November – 2 December round celebrated the Hindu festival Karthigai Deepam, and required the 19 remaining contestants to sing film songs which fit in the Carnatic music ("classical") genre.
Carnatic music advocate and playback singer Nithyasree Mahadevan made her first appearance on the show as a special guest judge for this round.
Consequently, the bottom five contestants were required to perform in a "waitlist challenge" the following week, at which time an elimination would be decided.
SSJ09 Vishnucharan was ill and considered the weakest performer, but the judges decided the contestant should receive immediate formal training in Carnatic music for his development as a musician rather than being eliminated.
The remaining episodes of 7–10 December round required the 19 contestants to perform songs from movies which starred Rajinikanth in celebration of his birthday.
Sharath and Ovviya were not required to compete as they had been granted immunity from the previous week's duet round.
The 11–14 January round was in celebration of the Pongal festival, and required contestants to perform Graamiya Padalgal (English: village songs).
Film stars Karthi and Andrea Jeremiah made their first appearance on the show to promote the movie Aayirathil Oruvan.
The comperes, voice trainer, permanent judges, and contestants dressed as ancient Indian kings and queens, and spoke in Middle Tamil.
Viewers expressed positive comments about the concept and were later disappointed that the following two seasons of the show did not repeat the round to the same high standard.
In the 15 February episode, Prem and Hamsadhwani, winners of the first season of the Vijay TV dance competition reality show, appeared as special guests.
Carnatic vocalist and playback singer Charulatha Mani and her husband Karthick also appeared as special guests.
The 1–4 March round promoted the release of the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and starring actor Silambarasan ("Simbu").
The first part of the round required the remaining 11 contestants to sing songs from Tamil films directed by Menon, who appeared as a special guest judge.
The second part of the round required the contestants to sing songs from films starring actor Simbu.
Playback singer Suchithra Karthik Kumar made her first appearance on the show, as a guest judge for this round.
Nithyashree was ultimately the bottom performer, however special guest S. Janaki requested that no one be eliminated and the judges agreed.
The 26–29 April round required the remaining six contestants to perform songs from films that had the music director M. S. Viswanathan, a 55-year veteran of the industry.
The semi-finals began with the 2–6 May round which required the remaining five contestants to perform in a quick-fire competition, accompanied by special guest musicians.
The 31 May – 3 June round recognized contestants with the SSJ Awards and also announced the wild card winners – Srikanth and Nithyashree – who entered the finals along with Alka Ajith, Roshan and Shravan.
[7][8] Views have been aired that Srikanth and Nithyashree though talented pose no competency to the other finalists in the final round.
The five grand finalists were Shravan Pratap, Alka Ajith, Roshan Sebastin, Srikanth, and Nithyashree.